Complete Air Fryer Guide: Tips, What to Cook & Beginner Recipes

Air fryers have gone from novelty gadget to kitchen staple surprisingly quickly, and most people who own one say the same thing: they use it almost every day. I use mine several times a week, and this guide covers how they actually work, the tips that make a real difference to the results, what you can cook in them, and half a dozen beginner recipes to get you started.

If you haven’t bought one yet and you’re still weighing up options, our best cheap air fryer guide covers the top budget picks. For families, the best air fryer for a family of four is worth a look too.

How an Air Fryer Actually Works

An air fryer is a compact convection oven. A heating element sits above the food basket and a powerful fan circulates hot air around the food at high speed. That circulating air is what creates the browning and crispiness people associate with frying — the same Maillard reaction that happens when food is submerged in hot oil, just without the oil.

The fan makes all the difference compared to a regular oven. A conventional oven heats air that largely sits still around the food. An air fryer moves that hot air continuously, which removes surface moisture fast and browns food evenly on all sides at once. That’s why air fryer chips cook in 20 minutes and oven chips take 40.

Most food needs only a light spray of oil — half a teaspoon or less — though fatty foods like sausages or chicken thighs often need none at all.

Tips That Actually Make a Difference

Preheat for 3–5 Minutes

Most manufacturers say you don’t need to preheat. In practice, preheating makes a noticeable difference to crispiness, especially for things like chips, chicken skin, and breaded foods. The food starts cooking on contact with the hot basket rather than slowly coming up to temperature. Three minutes at your target temperature is enough.

Don’t Overcrowd the Basket — This One Matters

Overcrowding is the single most common reason air fryer food comes out soggy rather than crispy. Hot air needs to circulate freely around every piece of food. Pack the basket too tightly and you trap steam, which makes things soft. A single layer with small gaps between pieces is the rule. If you’re cooking for more than two people, batch-cook and keep the first batch warm in a low oven while you cook the second.

Shake or Flip Halfway Through

Shake smaller foods (chips, vegetables, nuggets) or flip larger pieces (chicken thighs, fish fillets, burgers) at the halfway point. The side sitting against the basket cooks faster than the top because of direct contact heat. Flipping gives you even browning on both sides.

Pat Food Dry Before It Goes In

Wet surfaces steam before they brown. A quick pat with kitchen paper before seasoning food removes surface moisture and helps everything crisp up faster. This matters most with chicken (especially from the fridge), fish, and vegetables with high water content like courgette.

Use Oil Sparingly but Don’t Skip It Entirely

Many recipes say oil is optional. For foods that are naturally fatty, that’s true. For leaner foods — vegetables, chicken breast, fish — a light spray of oil (not a pour, a mist) helps browning and prevents sticking. Use a refillable oil mister with a neutral oil. Avoid aerosol cooking sprays with propellant gases — over time these can damage the non-stick coating on the basket.

Reduce Temperature When Adapting Oven Recipes

Air fryers run hotter than conventional ovens, and the circulating air speeds up cooking further. When you’re adapting a standard oven recipe, drop the temperature by about 20°C (35°F) and start checking for doneness 5 minutes before the recipe says. It’s easy to overcook things the first time if you follow oven timings exactly.

A Meat Thermometer Is Your Best Friend

Air fryers cook fast, which means the window between perfectly cooked and overdone chicken breast is narrow. A good instant-read or probe thermometer removes the guesswork entirely. Our review of the best Bluetooth meat thermometers covers models that work well for quick checks on smaller cuts.

What You Can Cook in an Air Fryer

The short answer is: almost anything you’d cook in an oven or a frying pan, plus things a microwave can’t touch. Here’s a practical breakdown.

Chicken

Chicken is where most air fryers earn their keep. Wings, thighs, drumsticks, and whole spatchcocked chicken all come out with genuinely crispy skin — something a standard oven struggles to achieve without a fan setting. Bone-in, skin-on pieces work best. Chicken breast works well too, though it dries out more quickly than in a pan, so keep an eye on the temperature (74°C / 165°F internal).

Fish and Seafood

Fish cooks in 8–12 minutes for most fillets, and the dry circulating heat crisps breading without the greasiness of deep frying. Salmon, cod, haddock, and prawns all work. One tip: oil the basket or use parchment liners before putting fish in — it prevents sticking and saves the basket from picking up smells.

Chips and Potatoes

Homemade chips may be the air fryer’s greatest achievement. Cut potatoes into even wedges or chips, soak in cold water for 30 minutes (this removes surface starch), pat very dry, toss with a teaspoon of oil and salt, then air fry at 200°C for 20–25 minutes, shaking every 8 minutes. The result: genuinely crispy outside, fluffy inside, with a fraction of the oil of deep-fried chips.

Vegetables

Roasted vegetables come out beautifully in an air fryer — caramelised edges, tender centres — in about half the time of a conventional oven. Broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, courgette, peppers, and mushrooms all work well. Cut into similar-sized pieces, toss in a small amount of oil and seasoning, and shake the basket halfway through.

Frozen Foods

This is the air fryer’s other killer use case. Frozen chips, nuggets, fish fingers, spring rolls, onion rings — all come out noticeably crispier and faster than in a conventional oven, without the mess or fat of deep frying. There’s no need to defrost first; just add a few minutes to the cook time.

Reheating Leftovers

The air fryer is far better than a microwave for anything you want to stay crispy. Reheated pizza regains its crust. Leftover roast potatoes crisp right up. Fried chicken comes back to something close to its original texture. Three to five minutes at 180°C is enough for most things.

Baked Goods

Small bakes — muffins, cookies, individual cakes, garlic bread — all work in the air fryer. The convection heat means baking is faster than in a full-size oven, and the compact space means you’re not heating a whole oven for a batch of six muffins. Useful note: cover the tops with foil if they start browning too fast before the centre is set.

Is an Air Fryer Worth It?

We cover the health angle in more depth in our are air fryers healthy? piece, but the short version is: compared to deep frying, air frying significantly reduces fat and calorie content — studies suggest 70–80% less fat. It also reduces the formation of acrylamide, a compound produced when starchy foods are cooked at high temperatures in oil.

If you’re comparing air frying to deep frying and wondering about the difference in actual results, our air fryer vs deep fryer comparison covers both cooking methods in detail.

The practical case for an air fryer is strong regardless of health considerations: it’s faster than an oven, less messy than a frying pan, and easier to clean than either. For anyone who cooks for one or two people regularly, it’s often the most-used appliance in the kitchen.

Air Fryer Recipes for Beginners

These six recipes require no special equipment beyond the air fryer itself and cover the most common things people want to cook.

Crispy Chicken Wings

Temp: 200°C (400°F) | Time: 25–28 minutes

Pat 1 kg of wings completely dry — this is the step most people skip, and it matters. Toss with 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp smoked paprika, salt and pepper. No oil needed. Air fry for 25–28 minutes, flipping at the halfway point. The baking powder is what makes the skin genuinely crackly — it raises the pH of the surface and accelerates browning. Serve immediately.

Air Fryer Chips

Temp: 200°C (400°F) | Time: 22–25 minutes

Cut 2 large potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edward work best) into even 1 cm strips. Soak in cold water for 30 minutes, drain, and pat very dry. Toss with 1 tsp neutral oil, salt, and pepper. Air fry for 22–25 minutes, shaking every 8 minutes, until deep golden and crispy. If your air fryer has a preheat function, use it here.

Garlic and Herb Salmon

Temp: 200°C (400°F) | Time: 10–12 minutes

Place salmon fillets skin-side down in the basket (no need to oil it — salmon has enough fat). Mix 1 tbsp softened butter with 1 minced garlic clove, a pinch of dried thyme or dill, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Spread over the top of each fillet. Air fry for 10–12 minutes until the flesh flakes at the thickest point. The butter bastes the fish as it melts and the garlic forms a golden crust on top.

Roasted Broccoli

Temp: 200°C (400°F) | Time: 10–12 minutes

Cut a head of broccoli into similar-sized florets. Toss with 1 tsp olive oil, a pinch of garlic powder, chilli flakes, salt and pepper. Air fry for 10–12 minutes, shaking halfway through, until the florets have slightly charred edges and the stems are tender. Finish with a squeeze of lemon. This is the recipe that converts people who don’t think they like broccoli.

Breaded Chicken Goujons

Temp: 200°C (400°F) | Time: 12–14 minutes

Slice 2 chicken breasts into finger-width strips. Set up three bowls: seasoned plain flour, beaten egg with a splash of milk, and panko breadcrumbs mixed with a pinch of paprika and garlic powder. Coat each strip in flour (shake off the excess), dip in egg, then press into the panko. Spray lightly with oil. Air fry for 12–14 minutes, flipping halfway, until golden and cooked through (75°C / 165°F internal). Panko is important — regular breadcrumbs don’t crisp as well.

Sausages

Temp: 180°C (360°F) | Time: 15 minutes

Place sausages in a single layer in the basket — they can touch but shouldn’t be piled up. Air fry for 15 minutes, turning once at the halfway point. No oil needed. The sausages brown evenly on all sides, something that’s genuinely hard to achieve in a frying pan without constant attention. Works with any type of sausage, including chipolatas (10–12 minutes) and thick bratwurst (18–20 minutes).

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you put foil in an air fryer?

Yes, with conditions. We cover this in detail in our can you put foil in an air fryer? guide, but the short version is: foil is safe as long as it doesn’t cover the basket perforations (which would block airflow), and you shouldn’t use it with acidic foods like tomatoes or citrus, which can react with aluminium.

How does an air fryer compare to a deep fryer?

Air fryers produce food that’s very close to deep-fried but not identical — especially for things like doughnuts or battered fish, where the deep fryer produces a lighter, crispier coating. For most everyday cooking (chips, chicken, vegetables), the air fryer result is excellent and the clean-up is dramatically easier. See our full air fryer vs deep fryer comparison for a side-by-side breakdown.

What size air fryer do I need?

For one or two people, a 2–3 litre basket is enough for most meals. For three to four people, 4–5 litres is the sweet spot — enough to do a main and a side together. For larger families or if you want to cook whole chickens, look at 6-litre models or dual-basket machines. The Ninja AF101 vs COSORI Pro II comparison is a useful starting point for the most popular mid-size models.

Are air fryers actually healthy?

Compared to deep frying, meaningfully so — 70–80% less fat in most foods. Compared to oven roasting, it depends on whether you’re adding oil. Air fryers are not a magic health device, but they make it easier to cook food with minimal added fat, which is genuinely useful. See our full breakdown of the health case for air fryers for a more detailed answer.

What should you not put in an air fryer?

Avoid: very wet batters (they drip through the basket and make a mess), large amounts of cheese on its own (it melts and runs before it browns), leafy greens (they blow around and burn), and anything in a paper bag or light container that can be lifted by the fan. Everything else is fair game with the right technique.

Looking for specific model recommendations? Our air fryers page covers every style from compact basket models to full countertop ovens, with reviews and buying guides for every budget.